Buoyed up by a brief visit with old friends

George W. Bush had aged visibly since I last saw him in the White House last May 19. He was jet-lagged and weary, quite plainly realizing that his journey of 10,000 miles had barely begun. But, as you watched his whirlwind pilgrim’s progress on te-levision, then personally pressed the flesh with him and his group in Malacañang at the splendiferous state dinner, you actually witnessed him picking up speed.

Dubya was buoyed up by the cheering crowds – men, women, and particularly battalions of little children – lining the route of his cavalcade. Metro Manila had turned out to wave – telling the American President that Filipinos were still his and America’s friends.

Perhaps there may be bigger and more highly orchestrated crowds mobilized in the countries Bush and his team are scheduled to visit in the week to come, but never in his onward journey will they be more spontaneous. Indeed, if tight security – rightly imposed – hadn’t kept most people away, the turnout would have been far more massive. (Just like the millions who turned out to cheer "homecoming" Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, an old Manila hand.) Yet what they saw was enough to perk up Dubya and Laura (who looked gorgeous and dignified as she seems to do on every occasion).

Bush finally knew, in his all too brief but almost clockwork perfect eight hours here, that he was among friends.

Let it remain at that. Haggling over aid, or the nitty gritty, will inevitably continue. This time, though, it was swept under the rug, or confined to the backrooms. Up front was the reaffirmation of a old and tested alliance.

For her part, President GMA played it right. Her message was: We’re in your corner, Dubya, but not in your hip pocket. It would be difficult, of course, for the diminutive Thumbelina of our Palace to declare she would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the tall Texan – but evidently, he got her drift.

* * *

Bush arrived and left on schedule. One minute he was grinning and relaxed at the Presidential table. Then, on cue, he was on his feet, halfway to the door, smiling – almost glassy-eyed – through a sea of hands and eager faces, while desperate US Secret Service men and women, many of them Asians so as not to stick out, tried to hold back the surge.

Dubya stopped in the chandeleried anteroom to profusely thank that beautiful bunch of Bayanihan dancers and singers who had performed so winningly in the banquet room, and pose for photographs with them. Indeed, he had appeared a bit wilted in his barong Tagalog, close to nodding off from fatigue, when those gals – waving straw versions of the cowboy stetson – launched into, "The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas!" Bush came to full attention, beaming with delight, as the guests joined in to render that thunderous Texas clap. We were only slightly disappointed when the singers didn’t segue into the climax of the traditional Texas Salute – "Yellow Rose of Texas" – but, boy, they were great.

Even National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, whose security wallahs had frowned on a "dangerous" Bush stopover in the Philippines seemed to be enjoying herself – at last. She smiled, comfortable in a shiny white jacket (earlier she had sported flaming red). By the time the doors shut on US Air Force One, and POTUS (codename for President of the United States) took to the air without a hitch or a scratch, I’m sure Condoleezza had begun to entertain a glimmer of..well, confidence in Philippine security.

She and US Ambassador Frank Ricciardone had, in fact, panicked somewhat when they received reports of a loudly shouting mob of Leftwing, anti-Yankee demonstrators trying to intercept the Bush convoy to the Batasan. Our own National Security Adviser Roy Golez, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, and Police Chief Jun Ebdane had calmly reassurred the Americans: "That kind of crowd? They’re under control. We handle such troublemakers every few weeks, as a matter of routine." And so it was. Bush zipped into the legislature, then departed on the return trip to the Palace without any hassle or threat – and right on schedule.

* * *

As for his speech before the Joint Session of Congress, it was right on the nose. It was even on schedule that the usual Communist and radical leftist firebrands "walked out" (like some corny operetta, it was) but there was no "trouble". In fact, Bush gave such a rip-roaring address that he was interrupted by applause from the congressmen, senators and the gallery no less than 28 times. Not bad for a 20- minute speech.

Yet how could he have failed? Dubya pressed all the right buttons. He even invoked the Pope. Santa banana!

He thanked "the citizens of Manila who lined the streets...for their warm and gracious welcome to Laura and me. It warmed our hearts. And I want to thank you for inviting me to be the first American President since Dwight Eisenhower to address this body."

He declared it was an honor "to visit America’s oldest ally in Asia, and one of America’s most valued friends in the world."

He quoted Jose Rizal who said "that nations win their freedom by deserving it, by loving what is just, what is good, what is great to the point of dying for it. In the 107 years since that good man’s heroic death, Filipinos have fought for justice, you have sacrificed for democracy – you have earned your freedom."

He pointed out that the names of Bataan, Corregidor, Leyte, Luzon "evoke memories of shared struggle and shared loss, and shared victory". Acknowledging the presence of veterans of those battles, he asserted: "I salute your courage and your service." (Applause).

That guy Bush has a fine speech writer, or writers. Yesterday was the fourth time we’d heard him, personally, deliver oratorical gems. He isn’t Eastern Establishment smooth, even looking in unguarded moments like that big-eared "Arthur E. Newman" fellow in MAD comics who shrugs, "What, me worry?"

But Dubya has an earnest grin on his face which says, don’t read my lips – read my heart. (That’s where this hick from Crawford differs, perhaps from dear old Dad.)

At the White House last May, this writer learned first-hand why he genuinely likes Filipinos. Every day, in his official residence and the Oval Office, he’s surrounded by 28 of them.

Susmariosep, just as the Devil quoted scripture on the Mount of Temptation, Dubya even trotted out a quote from Pope John Paul II. Recalling the Holy Father’s own visit to Manila of January 1995, Bush remarked that the Pope had spoken of "the goodness of the Filipino people, and the strength of your democracy and the example this nation has set for others. He said, "May your life spread out from Manila to the farthest corners of the world, like the great light which shone in the night at Bethlehem." Bush followed up this theme with the punch-line: "..the world needs the Philippines to continue as a light to all of Asia and beyond."

He concluded: "The United States and the Philippines have a proud history. And we face the future bound by the strongest ties two nations can share. We stand for liberty, and we stand together."

By the time he uttered "May God bless," he had our congressmen – even the most cynical among them – virtually eating out of the palm of his hand. And why not? It wasn’t just Dubya. When old memories are rekindled, it’s the spirit of Bataan, Corregidor, the Death March, and Leyte Gulf all over again. Comrades once again – under the big and bright stars of the Philippines and Texas.

They didn’t play, of course, Hail to the Chief. That’s all that was lacking. Possibly, our solons didn’t want to convey the idea that the Big Chief from Washington didn’t come here with too much whampum, outside of 20 beat-up, second-hand helicopters. But what the heck: Pals don’t nitpick that way. Whether deep in the heart of Texas or the gutters of Manila.

* * *

Before we get back to business and the harsh realities of the post-Bush era (post his departure, anyway), let me say that Lea Salonga, back from L.A. and Broadway, sang beautifully. Naturally she did Eponine’s poignant plaint from Les Miserables, a song which had caught the ear of the songwriters auditioning her in 1989 for her first role of Kim, the heroine of Miss Saigon which rocketed her to stardom in both London’s West End and Broadway. What perked up Mr. Bush, however, was when she swung into Tomorrow, that upbeat ditty of Little Orphan Annie – which she had first performed for O.B. Montessori when she was a grade school student. (She subsequently graduated from high school in O.B. as valedictorian.)

Lea and her mom, Ligaya (Bebeng), told me that the wedding will be on January 10 in Los Angeles. Not being Ricky Lo, I won’t attempt to furnish you with the rest of the details.

* * *

Meeting Finance Secretary Lito Camacho and Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas at the Malacañang dinner, I warned both of them not to take the Fraport suit against the government in the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) lightly. The giant government-owned German aviation firm, owned by the Land of Hesse, is fighting us in their own home court and, whatever their wrongdoing or drawbacks, enjoy strong homecourt advantage.

I was alarmed, I told Lito Camacho, at his statement we should "ignore" the Fraport complaint since we were doing the right thing in the PIATCO case. Sure, we might be doing the right thing, but the fact Icsid accepted the case means, if you know the score over in Europe, that Fraport was able to convince the court’s board with about 51 percent of its "evidence". Mind you, PIATCO has also filed a complaint in Paris – so, if we don’t deal with this carefully, we might get the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (PATF) on our backs.

Fraport’s complaint claims that German group was rooked out of $350 million it spent on the construction of NAIA Terminal-3 (still mothballed). Just to show you how dicey it is to disregard Icsid, i.e. the investment disputes "court," may I cite the case of Moscow. Russia’s finance minister and the Russian government had pooh-poohed complaints levelled against them in the same forum, on non-payment of landing fees, and other huge receivables amounting to just over $800 million. To their surprise, Switzerland slapped a "seizure order" on the Russians. As a result, Russian aircraft were not able to take part in the scheduled fighter-plane air exhibit at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget last June. The Russian MiG-29s, Sukhois, and other military jets had been ready to take off from Moscow to join the Air Show when they got word that the aircraft might be impounded and "sold off" to the waiting Bidders under the Swiss order – so Moscow abruptly cancelled the departure of its airplanes lest they be "sequestered" under the irate court order.

So, let’s tread carefully – and fight this battle cautiously.

* * *

Fraport’s experience in Manila is not the first time that airport concessionaire has been mired in controversial deals in a "third world country". Fraport is also involved in a consortium known as Lima Airport partners (LAP), the concessionaire of the Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima, Peru. As in the Philippines, Fraport’s Lima venture is hounded by some controversy.

The Asociacion de Servicios Privados (ASAEP) has been questioning attempts of Fraport and its partners to establish a private monopoly on a number of secondary airport services in the Lima Airport, arguing that it is in contravention of local laws and its original concession agreement. (Secondary services in an airport include allied services such as passenger and baggage transport and delivery, the operation of lounges, duty-free shops, offices, hangars and air cargo handling.)

Say, doesn’t that sound familiar?

The gist of ASAEP’s fight against Fraport and its partners is the association’s insistence that various secondary operators should be allowed to compete in a free market to handle secondary services at the Lima Airport. ASAEP maintains that Fraport and its buddies are legally and contractually barred from establishing a private monopoly on the above-mentioned secondary services. The proposed Fraport monopoly over there allegedly seeks to force the airlines to use the installations of Fraport and its group, and cancel their own existing international transport contracts.

It seems to be the modus operandi in more than one country for that German consortium.

In the Philippine case, there’s no doubt that, at this late stage, a deal with Fraport will have to be negotiated – but on our government’s terms, not theirs. Fair is fair. The Germans must know that they will eventually get a fair return on their investment, even though they were either reckless – or contrary. Yet, they cannot ride roughshod over our government.

We can and must trade them blow for blow. But we must do so with deliberation and due care. If you ask me, the option of negotiating with the PIATCO investors – which, by the way, include the Japanese and the Singaporeans (both also powerful groups) – ought to be explored with some urgency. I wrote earlier that businessman Jose "Pepito" Alvarez has been authorized by them to negotiate in their name. Why not try that route?

I spoke with Gloria Tan Climaco at Malacañang the other night. She’s honest and straight as a dye, and surely did not participate in any "extortion" attempt. But what about the others "mentioned"?

Before things get stickier, the government – and the Supreme Court – must move fast. Time is of the essence, not to mention the need to get Terminal 3 into operation, whatever it takes.

* * *

THE ROVING EYE... By the time this appears, I’ll hopefully be in Madrid. Hasta la vista, Baby, as Arnie Schwarzie said.